Mayor rescinds his resignation

The Seligman City Council welcomed back Mayor Duane Corn at its regularly scheduled meeting on Nov. 13. Corn submitted a letter of resignation to the aldermen on Nov. 7.

"I resigned because when the parks tax was defeated it looked like the people were not behind me," said Corn. "I thought the tax would pass unanimously. I assumed if we placed it on the ballot the people who wrote my name in would blindly follow me, but they didn't. "

Seligman voters defeated the one-quarter-cent parks and recreation sales tax 32-to-38 on Nov. 6. The Seligman City Council voted to place the parks tax issue on the ballot in May.

Parks and recreation sales tax revenue would have provided revenue for park maintenance, capital improvement projects and community events.

"People don't realize how consumed you get when you are mayor and you believe in something," said Corn. "Parks are one of the nearest and dearest things to me. When this issue didn't pass, I felt like the people were not behind me, but now I realize that wasn't the case.

"I found out that the main reason people voted "no" was that they had just received their tax statements and the fire district tax was more than they thought it would be," said Corn. "Others just didn't turn out to vote."

After Seligman residents heard that Corn had resigned from serving as the city's mayor, they began asking him to reconsider his decision.

"People started calling and even coming by my house," said Corn. "I had at least 50 people who asked me in person and over 100 who signed a letter asking me not to leave.

"After all that, I decided to go ahead and finish my term," said Corn. "There is so much yet to do and so I decided to come back and do what I could."

Around 135 individuals signed a letter and promised to donate at least 10 hours of community service to the city or equivalent funding to support the city's parks and recreation programs if Corn withdrew his resignation and continued to serve the city as mayor.

During the Nov. 13 meeting, Corn asked the Seligman City Council if he could retract his resignation and finish his term as Seligman mayor. The aldermen agreed to allow Corn to resume his position.

"I appreciate the people who came by my house and the people who promised to donate service to the city to help out," said Corn. "I have their names and I plan to hold them to what they said they would do.

"They can volunteer during work days or come help out during youth nights," said Corn. "We will ask the volunteers to help out in the areas where we would have used the money from the parks tax."

The Seligman City Council will look at placing the parks tax on the ballot again sometime in the future.

"A mayor in a small town is someone who is involved every single day in everything that happens," said Corn. "I was born and raised in Seligman, and I want to help make this town better."